ten·e·ment

(tĕn′ə-mənt)

1. A building for human habitation, especially one that is rented to tenants.

2. A rundown, low-rental apartment building whose facilities and maintenance barely meet minimum standards.

3. Chiefly British An apartment or room leased to a tenant.

4. Law A property of a permanent nature that is possessed or owned, such as land or a building, along with the rights associated with such possession or ownership.

[Middle English, house, from Old French, from Medieval Latin tenēmentum, from Latin tenēre, to hold; see ten- in Indo-European roots.]

ten′e·men′tal (-mĕn′tl) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

tenement

(ˈtɛnəmənt)

1. (Human Geography) Also called: tenement building (now esp in Scotland) a large building divided into separate flats

2. a dwelling place or residence, esp one intended for rent

3. chiefly Brit a room or flat for rent

4. (Law) property law any form of permanent property, such as land, dwellings, offices, etc

[C14: from Medieval Latin tenementum, from Latin tenēre to hold]

tenemental, ˌteneˈmentary adj

ˈteneˌmented adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ten•e•ment

(ˈtɛn ə mənt)

n.

1. Also called ten′ement house`. a run-down and often overcrowded apartment house, esp. in a poor section of a large city.

2. Law. property of a permanent or fixed nature, whether corporeal or incorporeal, as lands or rent.

3. Archaic. any abode or habitation.

[1250–1300; Middle English < Medieval Latin tenēmentum= Latin tenē(re) to hold + -mentum -ment]

tenement

- First meant "holding as a possession."

tenement

[ˈtenɪmənt]

A. N → vivienda f (Scot) (= flat) → piso m (Sp), departamento m (LAm)

B. CPD tenement block N → bloque m de pisos (Sp), bloque m de departamentos (LAm)
tenement house N → casa f de vecinos, casa f de vecindad

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

tenement

[ˈtɛnəmənt] n

(also tenement building, tenement block) → immeuble m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

tenement

(also tenement house) → Mietshaus nt, → Mietskaserne f (pej)

(Jur) → Mietbesitz m; (= farm) → Pachtbesitz m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

tenement

[ˈtɛnɪmənt] n → casamento

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

It is as though in this far country his spirit, that had wandered disembodied, seeking a tenement, at last was able to clothe itself in flesh.

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On fair nights he would sleep in the park or on a truck or an empty barrel or box, and when it was rainy or cold he would stow himself upon a shelf in a ten-cent lodginghouse, or pay three cents for the privileges of a "squatter" in a tenement hallway.

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Intently he listened for any sound from the nether world, but all was as silent below as above; the house under the ground seemed to be but one more empty tenement in the void.

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Having now disburdened himself of his great surprise, the schoolmaster sat down, and drawing Nell to his side, told her how he had learnt that ancient tenement had been occupied for a very long time by an old person, nearly a hundred years of age, who kept the keys of the church, opened and closed it for the services, and showed it to strangers; how she had died not many weeks ago, and nobody had yet been found to fill the office; how, learning all this in an interview with the sexton, who was confined to his bed by rheumatism, he had been bold to make mention of his fellow-traveller, which had been so favourably received by that high authority, that he had taken courage, acting on his advice, to propound the matter to the clergyman.

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The universe is but a tenement Of all things visible.

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The view of ships lying moored in some of the older docks of London has always suggested to my mind the image of a flock of swans kept in the flooded backyard of grim tenement houses.

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The village being small he had little difficulty in finding Mrs Durbeyfield's tenement, which was a house in a walled garden, remote from the main road, where she had stowed away her clumsy old furniture as best she could.

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Jimmie stood until the noises ceased and the other inhabitants of the tenement had all yawned and shut their doors.

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The flour pan in which their daily bread was mixed stood on the rude table side by side with the "prospecting pans," half full of gold washed up from their morning's work; the front windows of the newer tenements looked upon the one single thoroughfare, but the back door opened upon the uncleared wilderness, still haunted by the misshapen bulk of bear or the nightly gliding of catamount.

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I will not accept as the crown of my desires a block of buildings with tenements for the poor on a lease of a thousand years, and perhaps with a sign-board of a dentist hanging out.

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The part of duty I am now upon, though necessary, is very disagreeable to my natural make and temper, as I know it must be grievous to you, who are of the same species; but it is not my business to animadvert but to obey such orders as I receive, and therefore, without hesitation, shall deliver you his Majesty's orders and instructions, namely- that your lands and tenements, cattle of all kinds and live stock of all sorts, are forfeited to the Crown; with all other your effects, saving your money and household goods, and you yourselves to be removed from this his Province.

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To deal plainly with the reader, the captain, ever since his arrival, at least from the moment his brother had proposed the match to him, long before he had discovered any flattering symptoms in Miss Bridget, had been greatly enamoured; that is to say, of Mr Allworthy's house and gardens, and of his lands, tenements, and hereditaments; of all which the captain was so passionately fond, that he would most probably have contracted marriage with them, had he been obliged to have taken the witch of Endor into the bargain.

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